Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Better than ice cream

Lesbians love Sarah McLachlan. Through the years I've tried to dissect exactly why this is. I've listened to her crystalline voice for hours. I've stared into her big brown eyes for what seemed like an eternity. I've played my copies of “Fumbling Toward Ecstasy” and “Surfacing” until they became the de facto soundtrack to my college years. And, in the end, I think I can sum it up in two words: Lilith Fair. Oh, come on, you know you were there. Hell, we probably ran into each other and didn't even know it.

What made Lilith Fair, and Sarah, so important is simple yet revolutionary. It wasn't just that women could make good music. It was that women who made good music were good business. This was girl power not in just an artificial made-by-marketers sense. This was women working together for the enjoyment of other women. It seems almost cliché now but then it was kind of awesome. And talk about your gay women's paradise. Take an Indigo Girls concert and multiply it by 1,000. Yeah, that kind of awesome.

So, it's with fond memories and a happy song in my heart that I welcome the release of Sarah's new greatest hits album today. “Closer: The Best of Sarah McLachlan” features 16 songs including two new tracks. And, best of all, I have five copies to give away. So if you want one, let me know in the comments (leave your email address, spelled out is fine) from now through Thursday. I'll pick the five winners at random on Friday.

While you're at it, if you want to share your favorite Sarah song or story, feel free. Oh, come on, you know you have one. In fact if you or your girlfriend or the friend you wish was your girlfriend haven't at some point drunken karaoked to “Adia” then you are either not really that gay or lying. I'm going with the latter.

p.s. Have you seen her in a bikini recently? I'm going to make that a second, one-word answer to why lesbians love Sarah McLachlan.

UPDATE: Entries are now closed. Thanks to all who entered. I'll post the winners Monday.

124 comments:

Anonymous
said...

may I have it? may I have it? may I have it? Please? pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease? May I have it? came on!!! pleeeeeeeeease? May I have it? Yes? yes? may I have it?... but... no presure!! just... pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease!?

I could be funny and cute like Ms Anonymous above me, but really I have a story to tell you.

Love is hard. Such is the universal message of life, however, my fiance and I met because of Sarah McLaughlan and because of our mutual love of McLaughlan, we discovered our mutual love for each other.Okay, that was a fairly poor story, but it would be a wonderful present to Grace (that's her) and I would love to give something significant.

Hate to be a cliché but Angel helped me through some rough times and Fumbled Toward Ecstasy was indeed playing on a loop at certain point in my life. I remember I had at least 2 copies… one in the portable player and one in the stereo in my room… I was obsessed!

I was lucky enough to see her performing live twice... one word: goosebumps. If I have to pick one song would it be “Elsewhere” "Oh the quiet child awaits the day when she can break freethe mold that clings like desperationMother can't you see I've gotto live my life the way I feel is right for memight not be right for you but it's right for me..."I did totally interpreted it with the struggling of coming out… I sang that song at every occasion!

I'd have to say my favorite song is "i love you", that song gets me every time. like you i have also pondered why it is that woman love sarah mclachlan i've boiled it down to her voice, her beauty and the fact that she's canadian. Okay maybe the last one is just me personalizing.

holy c&^p I had no idea...umm apparently I just feel in love with Sarah all over again! who's been holding out on those abs! As for picking a favorite song...I don't think I have heard one I don't like..but I will always have Ice Cream around because well..hi my name is Dana and I AM and chocoholic I would love a copy of the new CDdanamitey at hotmail dot com

I was a HUGE Sarah McLachlan fan and have pretty much all of her albums so I won't put my hat into the ring. I will, however, say HOT DAMN! Sarah's got ab muscles? I can't believe the woman has had two babies.

I too love Sarah McLachlan and have always hoped that she played for our team... is it wrong that the news of her divorce gave me a tinge of hope that with Sarah back on the market perhaps she'll finally find her way over to our team? I know, I know, but I can't help myself. That voice of hers is just so damn hypnotic and no matter the song I always feel changed after listening to Sarah!

My favorite SM song is "When She Loved Me".When I bought my first SM album I swore she was a lesbian and was writing all about the experiences that I was going through trying to come out and cope with that experience. Wishful thinking but it still got me through that time in my life and I am forever grateful to her musical talents.Would love the new one! Thanks DS!ksrich343 at yahoo dot com

Ahhh...Sarah brings back memories of college for me too.. Too many drunken nights singing 'Ice Cream' to my friends at the top of my lungs. 'Possession' is still my all time favorite (even though it was inspired by her stalker). Please.... :)

There's an assload of Sarah McLachlan songs that I love, but having just finished an exhaustive (and amazing) Buffy marathon, I have to say I really love "Prayer of St Francis" that plays at the end of the season 6 finale. Even though it's all religified...it's still pretty!

ooh, yes. LOVE me some Sarah McLachlan. I confess to feeling a little frisson when I realized the person I was so very, very interested in had not one but two copies of “Fumbling Toward Ecstasy”... we're still together 8 years later :o)

My favorite song is "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy" because of the words that speak so clearly to me these days. Those being "If I feel a tear I won't cage it, and if I feel a rage I won't deny it, I won't fear love." Because I'm in love with someone!!!!!!!!!!! And it's awesome and scary!!!

I've loved Sarah for years. A good story... hmmm. I was dating a woman who called and sang Possession into my answering machine. I don't think she quite understood the song. We didn't last long. ;-) Then my next gf and I broke up right after a Sarah McLachlan concert. Good times. ;-)

ok... This is personal "ms dontcomitmurder"... I can be cute AND funny AND tell a lovely and overwhelming lovestory related to Ms SM... ok: MAYBE not overwhelming for everyone but me, but here we go:Madrid, 2003, a young girl from Canary Island is introduced to her first.lesbian.ever... and they stay together for ... ejem...ok: not THAT long, but we dance SM in my living room and for the first time in my life I felt like home...

Personally I think she's a lesbian favourite because she looks amazing in short hair AND long hair and of course can sing! Also you've got to love someone who names a women's only concert after Lilith!

Best Lilith Fair story for me was standing behind this huge guy about 50 rows back who was screaming "I LOVE YOU SARAH!" throughout the whole concert. I'm pretty sure she couldn't hear him but I couldn't be mad either...I was thinking the same thing!

To be truly honest, I actually only know two of Sarah's songs and somehow never felt the need to take a better listen although I do like her voice (*gasp*! Shame on me, I know). So maybe now is a good time to start...

I love it love it love it! And I triple quadruple love Sarah. Lilith Fair bring such happy memories back! What an amazing experience...I would love a copy of the greatest hits cd!! I wish, oh how I wish she'd come out with 10 new songs. sguest12@gmail.com

Picture it: The Talkeetna Blugrass festival, Alaska, the year was 1996. Two amazing girls. One just out of high school, the other home from college for the summer. They were as deeply in love as one could possibly be at 18 and 20. The rain pours down as they hold each other tight inside their tent. With the door unzipped they peer directly into the tent of their two gay boyfriends, who stare back and sing to them, beautifully and harmoniously, Ice Cream by Sarah McLachlan. Sigh. It is an incredible memory.

Two of my favorites would be "World on Fire" and "Witness". For some reason, her music is the perfect companion to fangirling. I've used quotes from her songs on icons, and I used "Answer" in a Thirteen/Cameron fanmix. Loving the blog, especially all the Tina Fey :D. I always check your blog and afterellen first when I go online :).

I went to every single Lilith Fair in California. Sarah McLachlan's music means so much to me! Listening to Fumbling toward Ecstasy is rather bittersweet for me, but I love it just the same. That music brings back such vivid memories of one particular person and a time in my life that changed everything. Sigh.

On our first date four and a half years ago, my now-partner and I sat in her truck in a restaurant parking lot until 3 a.m. talking and listening to Sarah's album "Afterglow" over and over again. Every time we hear "Fallen", we have to stop and slow dance.

I just wish the Lilith Fair oncerts had come to europe - i watched the video which i'm sure captures only a fraction of the special!So this is me crossing my fingers & hoping to win a copy of your CD giveaway

I know I'm at the moment stuck in Hungary. But this goes way back in time. I've been doing that gay gal thing since 16. Oh, the joy of teenaging over "Fast Car" and "Sorry" and longing for the right girl swoop me away.Continouing my road in through the twenties with Indigo Girls and Tori Amos, shouting all those gay anthems at different gay bars in my home town on the weekends. I've even worked in a couple of those places for a while. Really getting into the cultural jucies of lesbian sisterhood.. I have Norways big lesbo obviouse Anne Grete Preus together with others must-haves in Scandi countries as Ane Brun and Eva Dahlgren. KD and Missy are there too. Together with strong minded Sinead, Skunk Anansi, Bjørk. Pretty typical scandi gay gal stuff. But not Sarah McLachlan. The list goes on and on. But somehow it slipped me completly. And I know her music floats around in every lesbo loft around the whole of Scandinavia. So it is really not that. And normally I do pay attention, and have a good idea of what ms Snarker is on about most of the time. But this time. No. It was Sarah McLachlan which would stamp the Q-mark in my forehead. And I am just uncertain what to do. You know that feeling when you've been missing out on something so long that you might as well continue not to be a part of it.

Well, I'll maybe just give it a go when I pop by Norway next time. Seeming from the respons here, it could actually lead to something ;)

I have seen the female Hungarian post officers. And I know things in the mail tend to disappear in Hungary from time to time. And so with these to factors, I'm not even gonna ask.

But as always: Love your blogg, and a part of your Norwegian fan club. Keep on posting!

"Do What You Have To Do" is my favorite Sarah song. After hearing that song I realized I was in love with a girl. My first unrequited love... ah the memories. Sarah's voice is so beautiful it breaks my heart (in a good way).

Sarah really is "better than ice cream". She is my first recognized full-fledged lesbian crush. I remember listening to "Good Enough" over and over again trying to decipher if the songwriter (at the time an unknown to me) was a lesbian or not.

"She's singing to another woman, right?!" we would explore carefully with each other, as to not out ourselves.

She is amazing and you, Ms. Snarker, are amazing as well. Keep up the great work. Your writings are witty and very, very enjoyable.

My fav Sarah song is "do what you have to do". That song, and the surfacing album in general, got me through the hardest and most traumatic break-up that i've ever had (and hope never to experience again). Sarah is just amazing and so are you for doing this--thanks!

Picture it, Ohio 1998, my first "girlfriend" drops me like a hot potato for another girl after 1 month. I lay on my parents couch sobbing like a baby listening to Full Of Grace and Song For A Winters Night off Rarities, B Sides And Other Stuff. So sad :( Now you can make me really happy by shooting a CD my way!!! Pretty please?

WOW...100 comments and counting! I saw Sarah and one of my long time friends, Melanie Susuras, sharing the stage for the Lilith Faire in Denver when it came through. I also saw K's Choice, Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crowe and it was the first time I'd ever seen the Dixie Chicks live. TheWeryrd1 at gmail.

Oh god, Sarah McLachlan has been my favorite musician since I was a kid. She literally defined my childhood and her songs can always bring me back there, while pulling me into a space where I feel completely centered. Her voice and her music is so incredible and transcendent...I can't even justify it with words because they can't really express the feeling. But you know.

So here's my ridiculously lame Sarah/Lilith Fair story. So here I am, in the pouring rain at Lilith Fair and listening to a song (pretty sure is was Sarah and not Amy and Emily, totally sure it wasn't the Dixie Chicks!) and realizing that my crazy self needs to tell a good friend that I'm in love with her. Oh, take it back! Take it back! It went soooo badly. Epically, hilariously, you wouldn't even believe it badly! Therapy anyone?

But, Lilith Fair was deeply awesome, both times I got to go. Sad for Sarah that her marriage hasn't lasted, but wishing her all the best. And dang, wear that bikini at Kits beach!heyshasta at shaw dot ca

Ahhh, Dorothy, you temptress! And Sarah, you sexy bundle of uber-creative human goodness...

My reason? Well, other than the fact that she sent the Looks & Talent Gurgle-meter wayyy into the red zone w/her very first album in 1988, I have to say it was the 4, count 'em, FOUR encores at her concert in Chicago!

Your blog has epitomized all my loves...Sarah McLachlan, Tina Fey, Kate Winslet, Jodie Foster, Gillian Anderson... I get so excited when I read your blogs and view pics of the lovely, lovely ladies.

As with so many others, Sarah's music has helped me through the rough patches and she is my favorite artist by far. I've seen her at least a dozen times live and am always awed by how amazing she is live. Thanks for posting the bikini pic...she is looking as gorgeous as ever!

Oh Yeah... I was in the house at Lilith Fair! it was amazing to be in the presence of such strong women... and Sarah was better than ice cream;)...I must have worn through three copies of 'Fumbling' during the college years!!

Actually I have several lesbo stories that include Sarah McLachlan songs...however, the one thing that I can credit to Sarah McLachlan besides being the soundtrack to my tortured little soul is when my grandmother was dying. All I kept repeating over and over was "Hold on. Hold on to yourself...This is gonna hurt like hell..." And I know it was totally out of context of the meaning of the song, but it was like a calm mantra for me. It helped immensely. I love Sarah even more now.

I lived in Vegas for six years, and once I played blackjack with Sarah. At the time, I wasn't totally sure it was her. It was just the two of us on a table at a smaller casino (wow, that part sounds a lot hotter than the actual event), and she was very, very inebriated. I recognized her instantly but it took me awhile to finally ask her if she was "the" Sarah. She said no and said she gets it all the time, but something about it wasn't very convincing. However, every time I looked at her I just couldn't believe how much she looked like Sarah, so a few minutes later I said, "Are you sure you're not Sarah McLachlan?" in a lightly teasing sort of way. She again denied it, but she went on to throw out all of these weird "facts" about Sarah that meant that she couldn't possible be the real Sarah. The only one I can remember well anymore is that she said that she was Canadian, and that Sarah McLachlan was from Ohio - really? Ohio? Now, honestly, what Canadian in 2002 wouldn't know that international singing star Sarah McLachlan was also Canadian? I said, "No, I'm pretty sure she's from Canada," and she just gave me this look that sort of said "yeah, you got me" but could have just been wishful thinking on my part. At any rate, the whole time I was talking to her, the only thing that made me question myself was the sound of this woman's voice. It had a very distinct sound that was not bad or anything, but just not what I would have expected Sarah's speaking voice to sound like. It was slightly accented and hard to describe, but it really stuck out in my mind, and it occurred to me that I had never really heard her speak (just singing and some random shout-outs to the crowd and stuff). A little while later, the woman left the table (a little stumbly, I might add, but kind of adorable at the same time) and joined a couple of guys who also looked just a little bit too wealthy to be at that particular casino. The dealer smiled at me and said, "She sure did look like Sarah McLachlan," and we laughed but I pretty much dismissed the event after telling a few friends about it.

A few years later, I was doing laundry and had the TV on in the background. A commercial came on and all of a sudden I heard that woman's voice. I came rushing out of the laundry room, and there was Sarah McLachlan doing that commercial for the ASPCA and I knew it! Finally, after something like five years later I could confirm that I had been right and had in fact played blackjack with Sarah. There was no mistaking that voice, and now I can declare with certainty that drunken Sarah McLachlan is a mediocre blackjack player.

I swear I didn't leave it til the last minute on purpose. I tried leaving a comment a couple of days ago but it didn't work.

Anyway, I came across the Surfacing CD of Sarah's this very past weekend in my bedroom, covered in a beautiful layer of dust and it brought back so many memories.

I remember a few years ago a commercial in which Sarah McLachlin was holding a young child's hand and Adia was playing in the background. It caused me to tear up and my kids wondered what was wrong with me. Every time they hear Sarah's name mentioned, they bring that up. It's great to have kids, really!!